A C T S.

CHAP. XXIV.

We left Paul a prisoner at Cæsarea, in Herod's
judgment-hall, expecting his trial to come on quickly; for in the
beginning of his imprisonment his affairs moved very quickly, but
afterwards very slowly. In this chapter we have his arraignment and
trial before Felix the governor at Cæsarea; here is, I. The
appearing of the prosecutors against him, and the setting of the
prisoner to the bar, ver. 1,
2. II. The opening of the indictment against him by
Tertullus, who was of counsel for the prosecutors, and the
aggravating of the charge, with abundance of compliments to the
judge, and malice to the prisoner, ver. 2-8. III. The corroborating of the
charge by the testimony of the witnesses, or rather the prosecutors
themselves, ver. 9. IV. The
prisoner's defence, in which, with all due deference to the
governor (ver. 10), he
denies the charge, and challenges them to prove it (ver. 11-13), owns the truth, and
makes an unexceptionable profession of his faith, which he declares
was it that they hated him for (ver. 14-16), and gives a more particular
account of what had passed from their first seizing him,
challenging them to specify any ill they had found in him,
ver. 17-21. V. The
adjourning of the cause, and the continuing of the prisoner in
custody, ver. 22, 23.
VI. The private conversation that was between the prisoner and the
judge, by which the prisoner hoped to do good to the judge and the
judge thought to get money by the prisoner, but both in vain,
ver. 24-26. VII. The
lengthening out of Paul's imprisonment for two years, till another
governor came (ver. 27),
where he seems as much neglected as there had been ado about
him.

The Speech of Tertullus.

1 And after five days Ananias the high priest
descended with the elders, and with a certain orator
named Tertullus, who informed the governor against Paul.
2 And when he was called forth, Tertullus began to accuse
him, saying, Seeing that by thee we enjoy great quietness,
and that very worthy deeds are done unto this nation by thy
providence, 3 We accept it always, and in all places,
most noble Felix, with all thankfulness. 4 Notwithstanding,
that I be not further tedious unto thee, I pray thee that thou
wouldest hear us of thy clemency a few words. 5 For we have
found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of
sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader
of the sect of the Nazarenes: 6 Who also hath gone about to
profane the temple: whom we took, and would have judged according
to our law. 7 But the chief captain Lysias came upon
us, and with great violence took him away out of our
hands, 8 Commanding his accusers to come unto thee: by
examining of whom thyself mayest take knowledge of all these
things, whereof we accuse him. 9 And the Jews also assented,
saying that these things were so.

We must suppose that Lysias, the chief
captain, when he had sent away Paul to Cæsarea, gave
notice to the chief priests, and others that had appeared against
Paul, that if they had any thing to accuse him of they must follow
him to Cæsarea, and there they would find him, and a judge ready to
hear them-thinking, perhaps, they would not have given themselves
so much trouble; but what will not malice do?

I. We have here the cause followed against
Paul, and it is vigorously carried on. 1. Here is no time lost, for
they are ready for a hearing after five days; all other
business is laid aside immediately, to prosecute Paul; so intent
are evil men to do evil! Some reckon these five days from
Paul's being first seized, and with most probability, for he says
here (v. 11) that
it was but twelve days since he came up to Jerusalem, and he
had spent seven in his purifying the temple, so that these
five must be reckoned from the last of those. 2. Those who had been
his judges do themselves appear here as his prosecutors.
Ananias himself the high priest, who had sat to judge
him, now stands to inform against him. One would wonder, (1.) That
he should thus disparage himself, and forget the dignity of his
place. She the high priest turn informer, and leave all his
business in the temple at Jerusalem, to go to be called as a
prosecutor in Herod's judgment-hall? Justly did God make
the priests contemptible and base, when they made themselves
so, Mal. ii. 9. (2.) That he
should thus discover himself and his enmity against Paul!. If men
of the first rank have a malice against any, they think it policy
to employ others against them, and to play least in sight
themselves, because of the odium that commonly attends it; but
Ananias is not shamed to own himself a sworn enemy to Paul. The
elders attended him, to signify their concurrence with him, and
to invigorate the prosecution; for they could not find any
attorneys or solicitors that would follow it with so much violence
as they desired. The pains that evil men take in an evil matter,
their contrivances, their condescensions, and their unwearied
industry, should shame us out of our coldness and backwardness, and
out indifference in that which is good.

II. We have here the cause pleaded against
Paul. The prosecutors brought with them a certain orator named
Tertullus, a Roman, skilled in the Roman law and language, and
therefore fittest to be employed in a cause before the Roman
governor, and most likely to gain favour. The high priest, and
elders, though they had their own hearts spiteful enough, did not
think their own tongues sharp enough, and therefore retained
Tertullus, who probably was noted for a satirical wit, to be of
counsel for them; and, no doubt, they gave him a good fee, probably
out of the treasury of the temple, which they had the command of,
it being a cause wherein the church was concerned and which
therefore must not be starved. Paul is set to the bar before Felix
the governor: He was called forth, v. 2. Tertullus's business is, on the
behalf of the prosecutors, to open the information against him, and
he is a man that will say any thing for his fee; mercenary tongues
will do so. No cause so unjust but can find advocates to plead it;
and yet we hope many advocates are so just as not knowingly to
patronise an unrighteous cause, but Tertullus was none of these:
his speech (or at least an abstract of it, for it appears, by
Tully's orations, that the Roman lawyers, on such occasions, used
to make long harangues) is here reported, and it is made up of
flattery and falsehood; it calls evil good, and good evil.

1. One of the worst of men is here
applauded as one of the best of benefactors, only because he was
the judge. Felix is represented by the historians of his own
nation, as well as by Josephus the Jew, as a very bad man, who,
depending upon his interest in the court, allowed himself in all
manner of wickedness, was a great oppressor, very cruel, and very
covetous, patronising and protecting assassins.—Joseph.
Antiq. 20. 162-165. And yet Tertullus here, in the name of
the high priest and elders, and probably by particular directions
from them and according to the instructions of his breviate,
compliments him, and extols him to the sky, as if he were so good a
magistrate as never was the like: and this comes the worse from the
high priest and the elders, because he had given a late instance of
his enmity to their order; for Jonathan the high priest, or one of
the chief priests, having offended him by too free an invective
against the tyranny of his government, he had him murdered by some
villains whom he hired for that purpose who afterwards did the like
for others, as they were hired: Cujus facinoris quia nemo ultor
extitit, invitati hac licentia sicarii multos confodiebant, alios
propter privatas inimicitias, alios conducti pecunia, etiam in ipso
templo—No one being found to punish such enormous wickedness, the
assassins, encouraged by this impunity, stabbed several persons,
some from personal malice, some for hire, and that even in the
temple itself. An yet, to engage him to gratify their malice
against Paul, and to return them that kindness for their kindness
in overlooking all this, they magnify him as the greatest blessing
to their church and nation that ever came among them.

(1.) They are very ready to own it
(v. 2): "By thee
we, of the church, enjoy great quietness, and we look
upon thee as our patron and protector, and very worthy deeds are
done, from time to time, to the whole nation of the Jews, by
thy providence—thy wisdom, and care, and vigilance." To give
him his due, he had been instrumental to suppress the insurrection
of that Egyptian of whom the chief captain spoke (ch. xxi. 38); but will the
praise of that screen him from the just reproach of his tyranny and
oppression afterwards? See here, [1.] The unhappiness of great men,
and a great unhappiness it is, to have their services magnified
beyond measure, and never to be faithfully told of their faults;
and hereby they are hardened and encouraged in evil. [2.] The
policy of bad men, by flattering princes in what they do amiss to
draw them in to do worse. The bishops of Rome got themselves
confirmed in their exorbitant church power, and have been assisted
in persecuting the servants of Christ, by flattering and caressing
usurpers and tyrants, and so making them the tools of their malice,
as the high priest, by his compliments, designed to make Felix
here.

(2.) They promise to retain a grateful
sense of it (v. 3):
"We accept it always, and in all places, every where and at
all times we embrace it, we admire it, most noble Felix, with
all thankfulness. We will be ready, upon any occasion, to
witness for thee, that thou art a wise and good governor, and very
serviceable to the country." And, if it had been true that he was
such a governor, it had been just that they should thus accept his
good offices with all thankfulness. The benefits which we enjoy by
government, especially by the administration of wise and good
governors, are what we ought to be thankful for, both to God and
man. This is part of the honour due to magistrates, to acknowledge
the quietness we enjoy under their protection, and the worthy deeds
done by their prudence.

(3.) They therefore expect his favour in
this cause, v. 4.
They pretend a great care not to intrench upon his time: We will
not be further tedious to thee; and yet to be very confident
of his patience: I pray thee that thou wouldest hear us of thy
clemency a few words. All this address is only ad captandam
benefolentiam—to induce him to give countenance to their
cause; and they were so conscious to themselves that it would
soon appear to have more malice than matter in it that they found
it necessary thus to insinuate themselves into his favour. Every
body knew that the high priest and the elders were enemies to the
Roman government, and were uneasy under all the marks of that yoke,
and therefore, in their hearts, hated Felix; and yet, to gain their
ends against Paul, they, by their counsel, show him all this
respect, as they did to Pilate and Cæsar when they were persecuting
our Saviour. Princes cannot always judge of the affections of their
people by their applauses; flattery is one thing, and true loyalty
is another.

2. One of the best of men is here accused
as one of the worst of malefactors, only because he was the
prisoner. After a flourish of flattery, in which you cannot see
matter for words, he comes to his business, and it is to inform his
excellency concerning the prisoner at the bar; and this part of his
discourse is as nauseous for its raillery as the former part is for
its flattery. I pity the man, and believe he has no malice against
Paul, nor does he think as he speaks in calumniating him, any more
than he did in courting Felix; but, a I cannot but be sorry that a
man of wit and sense should have such a saleable tongue (as one
calls it), so I cannot but be angry at those dignified men that had
such malicious hearts as to put such words into his mouth. Two
things Tertullus here complains of to Felix, in the name of the
high priest and the elders:—

(1.) That the peace of the nation was
disturbed by Paul. They could not have baited Christ's disciples if
they had not first dressed them up in the skins of wild beasts, nor
have given them as they did the vilest of treatment if they had not
first represented them as the vilest of men, though the characters
they gave of them were absolutely false and there was not the least
colour nor foundation for them. Innocence, may excellence and
usefulness, are no fence against calumny, no, nor against the
impressions of calumny upon the minds both of magistrates and
multitudes to excite their fury and jealousy; for, be the
representation ever so unjust, when it is enforced, as here it was,
with gravity and pretence of sanctity, and with assurance and
noise, something will stick. The old charge against God's prophets
was that they were the troublers of the land, and against God's
Jerusalem that it was a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and
provinces (Ezra iv. 15,
19), and against our Lord Jesus that he perverted the
nation, and forbade to give tribute to Cæsar. It is the very same
against Paul here; and, though utterly false, is averred with all
the confidence imaginable. They do not say, "We suspect him to be a
dangerous man, and have taken him up upon that suspicion;" but, as
if the thing were past dispute, "We have found him to be so;
we have often and long found him so;" as if he were a traitor and
rebel already convicted. And yet, after all, there is not a word of
truth in this representation; but, if Paul's just character be
enquired into, it will be found directly the reverse of this.

[1.] Paul was a useful man, and a great
blessing to his country, a man of exemplary candour and goodness,
blessing to all, and provoking to none; and yet he is here called
a pestilent fellow (v.
5): "We have found him,loimon—pestem—the plague of the nation, a
walking pestilence, which supposes him to be a man of a turbulent
spirit, malicious and ill-natured, and one that threw all things in
disorder wherever he came." They would have it thought that he had
dome a more mischief in his time than a plague could do,—that the
mischief he did was spreading and infectious, and that he made
others as mischievous as himself,—that it was of as fatal
consequence as the plague is, killing and destroying, and laying
all waste,—that it was as much to be dreaded and guarded against
as a plague is. Many a good sermon he had preached, and many a good
work he had done, and for these he is called a pestilent
fellow.

[2.] Paul was a peace-maker, was a preacher
of that gospel which has a direct tendency to slay all
enmities, and to establish true and lasting peace; he lived
peaceably and quietly himself, and taught others to do so too, and
yet is here represented as a mover of sedition among all the
Jews throughout all the world. The Jews were disaffected to the
Roman government; those of them that were most bigoted were the
most so. This Felix knew, and had therefore a watchful eye upon
them. Now they would fain make him believe that this Paul was the
man that made them so, whereas they themselves were the men that
sowed the seeds of faction and sedition among them: and they knew
it; and the reason why they hated Christ and his religion was
because he did not go about to head them in a opposition to the
Romans. The Jews were every where much set against Paul, and
stirred up the people to clamour against him; they moved sedition
in all places where he came, and then cast the blame unjustly upon
him as if he had been the mover of the sedition; as Nero not long
after set Rome on fire, and then said the Christians did it.

[3.] Paul was a man of catholic charity,
who did not affect to be singular, but made himself the servant of
all for their good; and yet he is here charged as being a
ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes, a standard-bearer
of that sect, so the word signifies. When Cyprian was condemned to
die for being a Christian, this was inserted in hi sentence, that
he was auctor iniqui nominis et signifer—The author and
standard-bearer of a wicked cause. Now it was true that Paul
was an active leading man in propagating Christianity. But,
First, It was utterly false that this was a sect; he did not
draw people to a party or private opinion, nor did he make his own
opinions their rule. True Christianity establishes that which is of
common concern to all mankind, publishes good-will to men, and
shows us God in Christ reconciling the world to himself, and
therefore cannot be thought to take its rise from such narrow
opinions and private interests as sects owe their origin to. True
Christianity has a direct tendency to the uniting of the children
of men, and the gathering of them together in one; and, as far as
it obtains its just power and influence upon the minds of men, will
make them meek and quiet, and peaceable and loving, and every way
easy, acceptable, and profitable one to another, and therefore is
far from being a sect, which is supposed to lead to division and to
sow discord. True Christianity aims at no worldly benefit or
advantage, and therefore must by no means be called a sect. Those
that espouse a sect are governed in it by their secular interest,
they aim at wealth and honour; but the professors of Christianity
are so far from this that they expose themselves thereby to the
loss and ruin of all that is dear to them in this world.
Secondly, It is invidiously called the sect of the
Nazarenes, by which Christ was represented as of Nazareth,
whence no good thing was expected to arise; whereas he was of
Bethlehem, where the Messiah was to be born. Yet he was pleased to
call himself, Jesus of Nazareth, ch. xxii. 8. And the scripture has put
an honour on the name, Matt. ii.
23. And therefore, though intended for a reproach, the
Christians had not reason to be ashamed of sharing with their
Master in it. Thirdly, It was false that Paul was the author
of standard-bearer of this sect; for he did not draw people to
himself, but to Christ-did not preach himself, but Christ
Jesus.

[4.] Paul had a veneration for the temple,
as it was the place which God had chosen to put his name there, and
had lately himself with reverence attended the temple-service; and
yet it is here charged upon him that he went about to profane
the temple, and that he designedly put contempt upon it, and
violated the laws of it, v.
6. Their proof of this failed; for that they alleged as
matter of act was utterly false, and they knew it, ch. xxi. 29.

(2.) That the course of justice against
Paul was obstructed by the chief captain. [1.] They pleaded that
they took him, and would have judged him according to their
law. This was false; they did not go about to judge him
according to their law, but, contrary to all law and equity, went
about to beat him to death or to pull him to pieces,
without hearing what he had to say for himself-went about, under
pretence of having him into their court, to throw him into the
hands of ruffians that lay in wait to destroy him. Was this judging
him according to their law? It is easy for men, when they know what
they should have done, to say, this they would have done, when they
meant nothing less. [2.] They reflected upon the chief captain as
having done them an injury in rescuing Paul out of their hands;
whereas he therein not only did him justice, but them the greatest
kindness that could be, in preventing the guilt they were bringing
upon themselves: The chief captain Lysias came upon us and with
great violence (but really no more than was necessary) took
him out of our hands, v.
7. See how persecutors are enraged at their
disappointments, which they ought to e thankful for. When David in
a heat of passion was going upon a bloody enterprise, he thanked
Abigail for stopping him, and God for sending her to do it, so soon
did he correct and recover himself. But these cruel men justify
themselves, and reckon him their enemy who kept them (as David
there speaks) from shedding blood with their own hands. [3.] They
referred the matter to Felix and his judgment, yet seeming uneasy
that they were under a necessity of doing so, the chief captain
having obliged them to it (v.
8): "It was he that forced us to give your excellency
this trouble, and ourselves too; for," First, "He
commanded his accusers to come to thee, that though mightest
hear the charge, when it might as well have been ended in the
inferior court." Secondly, "He has left it to thee to
examine him, and try what thou canst get out of him, and whether
thou canst by his confession come to the knowledge of those things
which we lay to his charge."

III. The assent of the Jews to this charge
which Tertullus exhibited (v.
9): They confirmed it, saying that those things were
so. 1. Some think this expresses the proof of their charge by
witnesses upon oath, that were examined as to the particulars of
it, and attested them. And no wonder if, when they had found an
orator that would say it, they found witnesses that would swear it,
for money. 2. It rather seems to intimate the approbation which the
high priest and the elders gave to what Tertullus said. Felix asked
them, "Is this your sense, and is it all that you have to say?" And
they answered, "Yes it is;" and so they made themselves guilty of
all the falsehood that was in his speech. Those that have not the
wit and parts to do mischief with that some others have, that
cannot make speeches and hold disputes against religion, yet make
themselves guilty of the mischiefs others do, by assenting to that
which others do, and saying, These things are so, repeating and
standing by what is said, to pervert the right ways of the
Lord. Many that have not learning enough to plead for Baal yet
have wickedness enough to vote for Baal.

Paul's Third Defence.

10 Then Paul, after that the governor had
beckoned unto him to speak, answered, Forasmuch as I know that thou
hast been of many years a judge unto this nation, I do the more
cheerfully answer for myself: 11 Because that thou mayest
understand, that there are yet but twelve days since I went up to
Jerusalem for to worship. 12 And they neither found me in
the temple disputing with any man, neither raising up the people,
neither in the synagogues, nor in the city: 13 Neither can
they prove the things whereof they now accuse me. 14 But
this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call
heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things
which are written in the law and in the prophets: 15 And
have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there
shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.
16 And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a
conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.
17 Now after many years I came to bring alms to my nation,
and offerings. 18 Whereupon certain Jews from Asia found me
purified in the temple, neither with multitude, nor with tumult.
19 Who ought to have been here before thee, and object, if
they had ought against me. 20 Or else let these same
here say, if they have found any evil doing in me, while I
stood before the council, 21 Except it be for this one
voice, that I cried standing among them, Touching the resurrection
of the dead I am called in question by you this day.

We have here Paul's defence of himself, in
answer to Tertullus's charge, and there appears in it a great deal
of the spirit of wisdom and holiness, and an accomplishment of
Christ's promise to his followers that when they were before
governors and kings, for his sake, it should be given them in
that same hour what they should speak. Though Tertullus had
said a great many provoking things, yet Paul did not interrupt him,
but let him go on to the end of his speech, according to the rules
of decency and the method in courts of justice, that the plaintiff
be allowed to finish his evidence before the defendant begins his
plea. And when he had done, he did not presently fly out into
passionate exclamations against the iniquity of the times and the
men (O tempora! O mores!—Oh the degeneracy of the times!)
but he waited for a permission from the judge to speak in his turn,
and had it. The governor beckoned to him to speak, v. 10. And now he also may
have leave to speak out, under the protection of the governor,
which was more than he could hitherto obtain. And, when he did
speak, he made no reflections at all upon Tertullus, who he knew
spoke for his fee, and therefore despised what he said, and
levelled his defence against those that employed him. And here,

I. He addressed himself very respectfully
to the governor, and with a confidence that he would do him
justice. Here are not such flattering compliments as Tertullus
soothed him up with, but, which was more truly respectful, a
profession that he answered for himself cheerfully, and with
good assurance before him, looking upon him, though not as
one that was his friend, yet as one that would be fair and
impartial. He thus expresses his expectation that he would be so,
to engage him to be so. It was likewise the language of one that
was conscious to himself of his own integrity, and whose heart did
not reproach him, whoever did. He did not stand trembling at the
bar; on the contrary, he was very cheerful when he had one to be
his judge that was not a party, but an indifferent person. Nay,
when he considers who his judge is, he answers the more
cheerfully; and why so? He does not say, "Because I know thee
to be a judge of inflexible justice and integrity, that hatest
bribes, and in giving judgment fearest God, and regardest not man;"
for he could not justly say this of him, and therefore would not
say it, though it were to gain his favour ever so much; but, I
the more cheerfully answer from myself, because I know thou
hast been many years a judge to this nation, and this was very
true, and being so, 1. He could say of his own knowledge that there
had not formerly been any complaints against Paul. Such clamours as
they raised are generally against old offenders; but, though he had
long say judge there, he never had Paul brought before him till
now; and therefore he was not so dangerous a criminal as he was
represented to be. 2. He was well acquainted with the Jewish
nation, and with their temper and spirit. He knew how bigoted they
were to their own way, what furious zealots they were against all
that did not comply with them, how peevish and perverse they
generally were, and therefore would make allowances for that in
their accusation of him, and not regard that which he had reason to
think came so much from part-malice. Though he did not know him, he
knew his prosecutors, and by this might guess what manner of man he
was.

II. He denies the facts that he was charged
with, upon which their character of him was grounded. Moving
sedition, and profaning the temple, were the crimes for
which he stood indicted, crimes which they knew the Roman governors
were not accustomed to enquire into, and therefore they hoped that
the governor would return him back to them to be judged by their
law, and this was all they wished for. But Paul desires that though
he would not enquire into the crimes he would protect one that was
unjustly charged with them from those whom he knew to be spiteful
and ill-natured enough. Now he would have him to understand (and
what he said he was ready, if required, to make out by
witnesses),

1. That he came up to Jerusalem on purpose
to worship God in peace and holiness, so far was he from any design
to move sedition among the people or to profane the temple. He came
to keep up his communion with the Jews, not to put any affront upon
them.

2. That it was but twelve days since he
came up to Jerusalem, and he came up to Jerusalem, and he had been
six days a prisoner; he was alone, and it could not be supposed
that in so short a time he could do the mischief they charged upon
him. And, as for what he had done in other countries, they knew
nothing of it but by uncertain report, by which the matter was very
unfairly represented.

3. That he had demeaned himself at
Jerusalem very quietly and peaceably, and had made no manner of
stir. If it had been true (as they alleged) that he was a mover
of sedition among all the Jews, surely he would have been
industrious to make a party at Jerusalem: but he did not do so. He
was in the temple, attending the public service there. He was in
the synagogues where the law was read and opened. He went about in
the city among his relations and friends, and conversed freely in
the places of concourse; and he was a man of a great genius and an
active spirit, and yet they could not charge him with offering any
thing either against the faith or against the peace of the Jewish
church. (1.) He had nothing in him of a contradicting spirit, as
the movers of sedition have; he had no disposition to quarrel or
oppose. They never found him disputing with any man, either
affronting the learned with captious cavils or perplexing the weak
and simple with curious subtleties. He was ready, if asked, to give
a reason of his own hope, and to give instruction to others; but he
never picked a quarrel with any man about his religion, nor made
that the subject of debate, and controversy, and perverse dispute,
which ought always to be treated of with humility and reverence,
with meekness and love. (2.) He had nothing in him of a turbulent
spirit: "They never found me raising up the people, by
incensing them against their governors in church or state or
suggesting to them fears and jealousies concerning public affairs,
nor by setting them at variance one with another or sowing discord
among them." He behaved as became a Christian and minister, with
love and quietness, and due subjection to lawful authority. The
weapons of his warfare were not carnal, not did he ever mention or
think of such a thing as taking up arms for the propagating of the
gospel or the defence of the preachers of it; though he could have
made, perhaps, as strong a party among the common people as his
adversaries, yet he never attempted it.

4. That as to what they had charged him
with, of moving sedition in other countries, he was wholly
innocent, and they could not make good the charge (v. 13): Neither can the
prove the things whereof the now accuse me. Hereby, (1.) He
maintains his own innocency; for when he says, They cannot prove
it, he means, The matter is not so. He was no enemy to the public
peace; he had done no real prejudice, but a great deal of real
service, and would gladly have done more, to the nation of the
Jews. He was so far from having any antipathy to them that he had
the strongest affection imaginable for them, and a most passionate
desire for their welfare, Rom. ix.
1-3. (2.) He bemoans his own calamity, that he was
accused of those things which could not be proved against him. And
it has often been the lot of very worthy good men to be thus
injured, to have things laid to their charge which they are the
greatest distance from and abhor the though of. But, while they are
lamenting this calamity, this may be their rejoicing, even the
testimony of their consciences concerning their integrity.
(3.) He shows the iniquity of his prosecutors, who said that which
they knew they could not prove, and thereby did him wrong in his
name, liberty, and life, and did the judge wrong too, in imposing
upon him, and doing what in them lay to pervert his judgment. (4.)
He appeals to the equity of his judge, and awakens him to look
about him, that he might not be drawn into a snare by the violence
of the prosecution. The judge must give sentence secundum
allegata et probata—according to that which is not only alleged
but proved, and therefore must enquire, and search, and ask
diligently, whether the thing be true and certain (Deut. xiii. 14); he cannot otherwise
give a right judgment.

III. He gives a fair and just account of
himself, which does at once both clear him from crime and likewise
intimate what was the true reason of their violence in prosecuting
him.

1. He acknowledges himself to be one whom
they looked upon as a heretic, and that was the reason of their
spleen against him. The chief captain had observed, and the
governor now cannot but observe, an uncommon violence and fury in
his prosecutors, which they know not what to make of, but, guessing
at the crime by the cry, conclude he must needs have been a very
bad man only for that reason. Now Paul here unriddles the matter: I
confess that in the way which they call heresy—or a
sect, so worship I the God of my fathers. The controversy is
in a matter of religion, and such controversies are commonly
managed with most fury and violence. Note, It is no new thing for
the right way of worshipping God to be called heresy; and for the
best of God's servants to be stigmatized and run down as sectaries.
The reformed churches are called heretical ones by those who
themselves hate to be reformed, and are themselves heretics. Let us
therefore never be driven off from any good way by its being put in
to an ill name; for true and pure Christianity is never the worse,
nor to be the worse thought of, for its being called heresy; no,
not though it be called so by the high priest and the elders.

2. He vindicates himself from this
imputation. They call Paul a heretic, but he is not so; for,

(1.) He worships the God of his
fathers, and therefore is right in the object of his worship.
He does not say, Let us go after other gods, which we have not
known, and let us serve them, as the false prophet is supposed
to do, Deut. xiii. 2. If so,
they might justly call his way heresy, a drawing of them aside into
a by-path, and a dangerous one; but he worships the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, not only the God whom they worshipped, but the
God who took them into covenant with himself, and was and would be
called their God. Paul adheres to that covenant, and sets up no
other in opposition to it. The promise made unto the fathers
Paul preached as fulfilled to the children (ch. xiii. 32, 33), and so
directed both his own devotions and those of others to God, as the
God of their fathers. He also refers to the practice of all
his pious ancestors: I worship the same God that all my
fathers worshipped. His religion was so far from being chargeable
with novelty that it gloried in its antiquity, and in an
uninterrupted succession of its professors. Note, It is very
comfortable in our worshipping God to have an eye to him as the God
of our fathers. Our fathers trusted in him, and were owned by him,
and he engaged to be their God, and the God of their seed. He
approved himself theirs, and therefore, if we serve him as they
did, he will be ours; what an emphasis is laid upon this, He is
my father's God, and I will exalt him! Exod. xv. 2.

(2.) He believes all things which are
written in the law and the prophets, and therefore is right in
the rule of his worship. His religion is grounded upon, and
governed by, the holy scriptures; they are his oracle and
touchstone, and he speaks and acts according to them. He receives
the scriptures entire, and believes all things that are there
written; and he receives them pure, for he says no other things
than what are contained in them, as he explains himself, ch. xxvi. 22. He sets not up
any other rule of faith, or practice but the scriptures-not
tradition, nor the authority of the church, nor the infallibility
of any man or company of men on earth, nor the light within, nor
human reason; but divine revelation, as it is in the scripture, is
that which he resolves to live and die by, and therefore he is not
a heretic.

(3.) He has his eye upon a future state,
and is a believing expectant of that, and therefore is right in the
end of his worship. Those that turn aside to heresy have a regard
to this world, and some secular interest, but Paul aims to make
heaven of his religion, and neither more nor less (v. 15): "I have hope
towards God, all my expectation is from him, and therefore all
my desire is towards him and all my dependence upon him; my hope is
towards God and not towards the world, towards another world and
not towards this. I depend upon God and upon his power, that
there shall be a resurrection of the dead at the end of
time, of all, both the just and unjust; and the great thing
I aim at in my religion is to obtain a joyful and happy
resurrection, a share in the resurrection of the just." Observe
here, [1.] That there shall be a resurrection of the dead, the dead
bodies of men, of all men from the beginning to the end of time. It
is certain, not only that the soul does not die with the body, but
that the body itself shall live again; we have not only another
life to live when our present life is at an end, but there is to be
another world, which shall commence when this world is at an end,
into which all the children of men must enter at once by a
resurrection from the dead, as they entered into this, one after
another, by their birth. [2.] It shall be a resurrection both of
the just and of the unjust, the sanctified and the
unsanctified, of those that did well, and to them our Saviour has
told us that it will be a resurrection of life; and of those
that did evil, and to them that it will be a resurrection of
condemnation, John v. 29.
See Dan. xii. 2. This
implies that it will be a resurrection to a final judgment, by
which all the children of men will be determined to everlasting
happiness or misery in a world of retribution, according to what
they were and what they did in this state of probation and
preparation. The just shall rise by virtue of their union with
Christ as their head; the unjust shall rise by virtue of Christ's
dominion over them as their Judge. [3.] God is to be depended upon
for the resurrection of the dead: I have hope towards God,
and in God, that there shall be a resurrection; it shall be
effected by the almighty power of God, in performance of the word
which God hath spoken; so that those who doubt of it betray their
ignorance both of the scriptures and of the power of God, Matt. xxii. 29. [4.] The resurrection
of the dead is a fundamental article of our creed, as it was also
of that of the Jewish church. It is what they themselves also
allow; nay, it was the expectation of the ancient patriarchs,
witness Job's confession of his faith; but it is more clearly
revealed and more fully confirmed by the gospel, and therefore
those who believed it should have been thankful to the preachers of
the gospel for their explications and proofs of it, instead of
opposing them. [5.] In all our religion we ought to have an eye to
the other world, and to serve God in all instances with a
confidence in him that there will be a resurrection of the
dead, doing all in preparation for that, and expecting our
recompence in that.

(4.) His conversation is of a piece with
his devotion (v.
16): And herein do I exercise myself, to have always
a conscience void of offence towards God and towards men.
Prophets and their doctrine were to be tried by their fruits. Paul
was far from having made shipwreck of a good conscience, and
therefore it is not likely he has made shipwreck of the faith, the
mystery of which is best held in a pure conscience. This
protestation of Paul's is to the same purport with that which he
made before the high priest (ch.
xxiii. 1): I have lived in all good conscience;
and this was his rejoicing. Observe, [1.] What was Paul's aim and
desire: To have a conscience void of offence. Either,
First, "A conscience not offending; not informing me wrong,
nor flattering me, nor dealing deceitfully with me, nor in any
thing misleading me." Or, Secondly, A conscience not
offended; it is like Job's resolution, "My heart shall not
reproach me, that is, I will never give it any occasion to do
so. This is what I am ambitious of, to keep upon good terms with my
own conscience, that it may have no cause either to question the
goodness of my spiritual state or to quarrel with me for any
particular action. I am as careful not to offend my conscience as I
am not to offend a friend with whom I daily converse; nay, as I am
not to offend a magistrate whose authority I am under, and to whom
I am accountable; for conscience is God's deputy in my soul." [2.]
What was his care and endeavour, in pursuance of this: "I
exercise myself—asko. I make it my constant
business, and govern myself by this intention; I discipline myself,
and live by rule" (those that did so were called ascetics,
from the word here used), "abstain from many a thing which my
inclination leads me to, and abound in all the exercises of
religion that are most spiritual, with this in my eye, that I may
keep peace with my own conscience." [3.] The extent of this care:
First, To all times: To have always a conscience void of
offence, always void of gross offence; for though Paul was
conscious to himself that he had not yet attained
perfection, and the evil that he would not do yet he did, yet
he was innocent from the great transgression. Sins of
infirmity are uneasy to conscience, but they do not wound it, and
waste it, as presumptuous sins do; and, though offence may be given
to conscience, yet care must be taken that it be not an abiding
offence, but that by the renewed acts of faith and repentance the
matter may be taken up again quickly. This however we must always
exercise ourselves in, and, though we come short, we must follow
after. Secondly, To all things: Both towards God, and
towards man. His conscientious care extended itself to the
whole of his duty, and he was afraid of breaking the law of love
either to God or his neighbour. Conscience, like the magistrate, is
custos utriusque tabulæ—the guardian of each table. We must
be very cautious that we do not think, or speak, or do any thing
amiss, either against God or man, 2
Cor. viii. 21. [4.] The inducement to it: Herein,en touto,for this cause; so it may be read.
"Because I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of
the world to come, therefore I thus exercise myself." The
consideration of the future state should engage us to be
universally conscientious in our present state.

IV. Having made confession of his faith, he
gives a plain and faithful account of his case, and of the wrong
done him by his persecutors. Twice he had been rescued by the chief
captain out of the hands of the Jews, when they were ready to pull
him to pieces, and he challenges them to prove him guilty of any
crime either time.

1. In the temple. Here they fell furiously
upon him as an enemy to their nation and the temple, ch. xxi. 28. But was there any
colour for the charge? No, but evidence sufficient against it, (1.)
It was very hard to accuse him as an enemy to their nation,
when after long absence from Jerusalem he came to bring alms to
his nation, money which (though he had need enough himself of
it) he had collected among his friends, for the relief of the poor
at Jerusalem. He not only had no malice to that people, but he had
a very charitable concern for them, and was ready to do them all
good offices; and were they his adversaries for his love? Ps. cix. 4. (2.) It was very hard to
accuse him of having profaned the temple when he brought offerings
to the temple, and was himself at charges therein (ch. xxi. 24), and was found
purifying himself in the temple, according to the law
(v. 18), and that in
a very quiet decent manner, neither with multitude nor with
tumult. Though he was a man so much talked of, he was far from
coveting to show himself when he came to Jerusalem, or to be
crowded after, but went to the temple, as much as was possible,
incognito. They were Jews from Asia, his enemies, that
caused him to be taken notice of; they had not pretence to make a
tumult and raise a multitude against him, for he had neither
multitude nor tumult for him. And as to what was perhaps suggested
to Felix that he had brought Greeks into the temple, contrary to
their law, and the governor ought to reckon with him for that, the
Romans having stipulated with the nations that submitted to them to
preserve them in their religion, he challenges them to prove it
(v. 19): "Those Jews
of Asia ought to have been here before thee, that they might
have been examined, whether they had aught against me, that
they would stand by and swear to;" for some that will not scruple
to tell a lie have such heavings of conscience that they scruple
confirming it with an oath.

2. In the council: "Since the Jews of Asia
are not here to prove any thing upon me done amiss in the temple,
let these same that are here, the high priest and the
elders, say whether they have found any evil doing in me, or
whether I was guilty of any misdemeanor when I stood before the
council, when also they were ready to pull me in pieces,
v. 20. When I was
there, they could not take offence at any thing I said; for all I
said was, Touching the resurrection of the dead I am called in
question by you this day (v. 21), which gave no offence to any
one but the Sadducees. This I hope was no crime, that I stuck to
that which is the faith of the whole Jewish church, excepting those
whom they themselves call heretics."

Paul Converses with Felix; Felix Trembles;
Paul's Trial Adjourned.

22 And when Felix heard these things, having
more perfect knowledge of that way, he deferred them, and
said, When Lysias the chief captain shall come down, I will know
the uttermost of your matter. 23 And he commanded a
centurion to keep Paul, and to let him have liberty, and
that he should forbid none of his acquaintance to minister or come
unto him. 24 And after certain days, when Felix came with
his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard
him concerning the faith in Christ. 25 And as he reasoned of
righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled,
and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient
season, I will call for thee. 26 He hoped also that money
should have been given him of Paul, that he might loose him:
wherefore he sent for him the oftener, and communed with him.
27 But after two years Porcius Festus came into Felix' room:
and Felix, willing to show the Jews a pleasure, left Paul
bound.

We have here the result of Paul's trial
before Felix, and what was the consequence of it.

I. Felix adjourned the cause, and took
further time to consider of it (v. 22): He had a more perfect
knowledge of that way which the Jews called heresy than the
high priest and the elders thought he had. He understood something
of the Christian religion; for, living at Cæsarea, where Cornelius,
a Roman centurion, was, who was a Christian, from him and others he
had got a notion of Christianity, that it was not such an evil
thing as it was represented. He himself knew some of that way to be
honest good men, and very conscientious, and therefore he put off
the prosecutors with an excuse: "When the chief captain shall
come down hither, I will know the uttermost of your
matter, or I shall know the truth, whether this Paul did go
about to raise sedition or no; you are parties, he is an
indifferent person. Either Paul deserves to be punished for raising
the tumult, or you do for doing it yourselves and then charging it
upon him; and I will hear what he says, and determine accordingly
between you." Now, 1. It was a disappointment to the high priest
and the elders that Paul was not condemned, or remitted to their
judgment, which they wished for and expected. But thus sometimes
God restrains the wrath of his people's enemies by the agency, not
of their friends, but of such as are strangers to them. And though
they be so, if they have but some knowledge of their way,
they cannot but appear for their protection. 2. It was an injury to
Paul that he was not released. Felix ought to have avenged him
of his adversaries, when he so plainly saw there was nothing
but malice in the prosecution, and to have delivered him out of
the hand of the wicked, according to the duty of a judge,
Ps. lxxxii. 4. But he was a
judge that neither feared God nor regarded man, and what good could
be expected from him? It is a wrong not only to deny justice, but
to delay it.

II. He detained the prisoner in custody,
and would not take bail for him; else here at Cæsarea Paul had
friends enough that would gladly have been his security. Felix
thought a man of such a public character as Paul was had many
friends, as well as many enemies, and he might have an opportunity
of obliging them, or making a hand of them, if he did not presently
release him, and yet did show him countenance; and therefore, 1. He
continued him a prisoner, commanded a centurion or captain to keep
him, v. 23. He did
not commit him to the common jail, but, being first made an
army-prisoner, he shall still be so. 2. Yet he took care he should
be a prisoner at large—in libera custodia; his keeper must
let him have liberty, not bind him nor lock him up, but make his
confinement as easy to him as possible; let him have the liberty of
the castle, and, perhaps, he means liberty to take the air, or go
abroad upon his parole: and Paul was such an honest man that they
might take his word for his return. The high priest and the elders
grudged him his life, but Felix generously allows him a sort of
liberty; for he had not those prejudices against him and his way
that they had. He also gave orders that none of his friends should
be hindered from coming to him; the centurion must not forbid any
of his acquaintances from ministering to him; and a man's prison is
as it were his own house if he has but his friends about him.

III. He had frequent conversation with him
afterwards in private, once particularly, not long after his public
trial, v. 24, 25.
Observe,

1. With what design Felix sent for
Paul. He had a mind to have some talk with him concerning
the faith in Christ, the Christian religion; he had some
knowledge of that way, but he desired to have an account of it from
Paul, who was so celebrated a preacher of that faith, above the
rest. Those that would enlarge their knowledge must discourse with
men of their own profession, and those that would be acquainted
with any profession should consult those that excel in the
knowledge of it; and therefore Felix had a mind to talk with Paul
more freely than he could in open court, where he observed Paul
upon his guard, concerning the faith of Christ; and this
only to satisfy his curiosity, or rather the curiosity of his
wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess, daughter of Herod Agrippa,
that was eaten of worms. Being educated in the Jewish religion, she
was more inquisitive concerning the Christian religion, which
pretended to be the perfection of that, and desired to hear Paul
discourse of it. But it was no great matter what religion she was
of; for, whatever it was, she was a reproach and scandal to it-a
Jewess, but an adulteress; she was another man's wife when Felix
took her to be his wife, and she lived with him in whoredom and was
noted for an impudent woman, yet she desires to hear concerning
the faith of Christ. Many are fond of new notions and
speculations in religion, and can hear and speak of them with
pleasure, who yet hate to come under the power and influence of
religion, can be content to have their judgments informed but not
their lives reformed.

2. What the account was which Paul gave him
of the Christian religion; by the idea he had of it, he expected to
be amused with a mystical divinity, but, as Paul represents it to
him, he is alarmed with a practical divinity. Paul, being asked
concerning the faith in Christ, reasoned (for Paul was
always a rational preacher) concerning righteousness,
temperance, and judgment to come. It is probable that he
mentioned the peculiar doctrines of Christianity concerning the
death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and his being the
Mediator between God and man; but he hastened to his
application, in which he designed to come home to the consciences
of his hearers.

(1.) He discoursed with clearness and
warmth of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come;
and here he showed, [1.] That the faith in Christ is designed to
enforce upon the children of men the great laws of justice and
temperance. The grace of God teacheth us to live soberly and
righteously, Tit. ii.
12. Justice and temperance were celebrated virtues among
the heathen moralists; if the doctrine Paul preaches, which Felix
has heard of as proclaiming liberty, will but free him from an
obligation to these, he will readily embrace it: "No," says
Paul, "it is so far from doing so that it strengthens the
obligations of those sacred laws; it binds all under the highest
penalties to be honest in all their dealings, and to
render to all their due; to deny themselves, and
to keep under the body, and bring it into subjection." The
world and the flesh being in our baptism renounced, all our
pursuits of the world and all our gratifications of the desires of
the body are to be under the regulations of religion. Paul
reasoned of righteousness and temperance, to convince Felix of
his unrighteousness and intemperance, of which he had been
notoriously guilty, that, seeing the odiousness of them, and his
obnoxiousness to the wrath of God for them (Eph. v. 6), he might enquire concerning the
faith of Christ, with a resolution to embrace it. [2.] That by the
doctrine of Christ is discovered to us the judgment to come, by the
sentence of which the everlasting state of all the children of men
will be finally and irreversibly determined. Men have their day
now, Felix hath his; but God's day is coming, when everyone
shall give account of himself to God, the Judge of all. Paul
reasoned concerning this; that is, he showed what reason we have to
believe that there is a judgment to come, and what reason we
have, in consideration thereof, to be religious.

(2.) From this account of the heads of
Paul's discourse we may gather, [1.] That Paul in his preaching had
no respect to persons, for the word of God, which he preached, has
not: he urged the same convictions and instructions upon the Roman
governor that he did upon other people. [2.] That Paul in his
preaching aimed at the consciences of men, and came close to them,
sought not to please their fancy nor to gratify their curiosity,
but led them to a sight of their sins and a sense of their duty and
interest. [3.] That Paul preferred the serving of Christ, and the
saving of souls, before his own safety. He lay at the mercy of
Felix, who had power (as Pilate said) to crucify him (or,
which was as bad, to deliver him back to the Jews), and he had
power to release him. Now when Paul had his ear, and had him in
a good humour, he had a fair opportunity of ingratiating himself
with him, and obtaining a release, nay, and of incensing him
against his prosecutors: and, on the contrary, if he disobliged
him, and put him out of humour, he might do himself a great
diskindness by it; but he is wholly negligent of these
considerations, and is intent upon doing good, at least discharging
his duty. [4.] That Paul was willing to take pains, and run
hazards, in his work, even where there was little probability of
doing good. Felix and Drusilla were such hardened sinners that it
was not at all likely they should be brought to repentance by
Paul's preaching, especially under such disadvantages; and yet Paul
deals with them as one that did not despair of them. Let the
watchman give fair warning, and then they have delivered their own
souls, though they should not prevail to deliver the souls they
watch for.

3. What impressions Paul's discourse made
upon this great but wicked man: Felix trembled,emphobos genomenos—being put into a fright,
or made a terror to himself, a magor-missabib, as Pashur,
Jer. xx. 3, 4. Paul never
trembled before him, but he was made to tremble before Paul. "If
this be so, as Paul says, what will become of me in another world?
If the unrighteous and intemperate will be condemned in the
judgment to come, I am undone, for ever undone, unless I lead a new
course of life." We do not find that Drusilla trembled, though she
was equally guilty, for she was a Jewess, and depended upon the
ceremonial law, which she adhered to the observance of, to justify
her; but Felix for the present could fasten upon nothing to pacify
his conscience, and therefore trembled. See here, (1.) The power of
the word of God, when it comes with commission; it is searching, it
is startling, it can strike a terror into the heart of the most
proud and daring sinner, by setting his sins in order before
him, and showing him the terrors of the Lord. (2.) The
workings of natural conscience; when it is startled and awakened,
it fills the soul with horror and amazement at its own deformity
and danger. Those that are themselves the terror of the mighty
in the land of the living have hereby been made a terror to
themselves. A prospect of the judgment to come is enough to make
the stoutest heart to tremble, as when it comes indeed it will make
the mighty men and the chief captains to call in vain to
rocks and mountains to shelter them.

4. How Felix struggled to get clear of
these impressions, and to shake off the terror of his convictions;
he did by them as he did by Paul's prosecutors (v. 25), he deferred them; he
said, Go thy way for this time, when I have a convenient season
I will call for thee. (1.) He trembled and that was all. Paul's
trembling (ch. ix. 6),
and the jailer's (ch.
xvi. 29), ended in their conversion, but this of Felix
did not. Many are startled by the word of God who are not
effectually changed by it. Many are in fear of the consequences of
sin, and yet continue in love and league with sin. (2.) He did not
fight against his convictions, nor fly in the face of the word or
of the preacher of it, to be revenged on them for making his
conscience fly in his face; he did not say to Paul, as Amaziah to
the prophet, Forbear, why shouldst thou be smitten? He did
not threaten him with a closer confinement, or with death, for
touching him (as John Baptist did Herod) in the sore place. But,
(3.) He artfully shifted off his convictions by putting off the
prosecution of them to another time. He has nothing to object
against what Paul has said; it is weighty and worth considering.
But, like a sorry debtor, he begs a day; Paul has spent himself,
and has tired him and his lady, and therefore, "Go thy way for
this time—break off here, business calls me away; but when
I have a convenient season, and have nothing else to do, I
will call for thee, and hear what thou hast further to say."
Note, [1.] Many lose all the benefit of their convictions for want
of striking while the iron is hot. If Felix, now that he trembled,
had but asked, as Paul and the jailer did when they trembled,
What shall I do? he might have been brought to the faith of
Christ, and have been a Felix indeed, happy for ever;
but, by dropping his convictions now, he lost them for ever, and
himself with them. [2.] In the affairs of our souls, delays are
dangerous; nothing is of more fatal consequence than men's putting
off their conversion from time to time. They will repent, and turn
to God, but not yet; the matter is adjourned to some more
convenient season, when such a business or affair is compassed,
when they are so much older; and then convictions cool and wear
off, good purposes prove to no purpose, and they are more hardened
than ever in their evil way. Felix put off this matter to a more
convenient season, but we do not find that this more convenient
season ever came; for the devil cozens us of all our time by
cozening us of the present time. The present season is, without
doubt, the most convenient season. Behold, now is the accepted
time. To-day if you will hear his voice.

IV. After all, he detained him a prisoner,
and left him so, when two years after he was removed from the
government, v. 26,
27. He was convinced in his conscience that Paul had
done nothing worthy of death or of bonds, and yet had not
the honesty to release him. To little purpose had Paul reasoned
with him about righteousness, though he then trembled at the
thought of his own iniquity, who could thus persist in such a
palpable piece of injustice. But here we are told what principles
he was governed by herein; and they were such as make the matter
yet much worse. 1. The love of money. He would not release Paul
because he hoped to make his market of him, and that at length his
friends would make a purse to purchase his liberty, and then he
would satisfy his conscience by releasing him when he could withal
satisfy his covetousness by it; but he cannot find in his heart to
do his duty as a judge, unless he can get money by it: He hoped
that money would have been given him of Paul, or somebody for
him, and then he would have loosed him, and set him at liberty. In
hopes of this, he detains him a prisoner, and sends for him the
oftener, and communes with him; not any more about the faith of
Christ (he had had enough of that, and of the judgment to come;
Paul must not return to those subjects, nor go on with them), but
about his discharge, or ransom rather, out of his present
captivity. He cannot for shame ask Paul what he will give him to
release him, but he sends for him to feel his pulse, and gives him
an opportunity to ask why he would take to release him. And now we
see what became of his promise both to Paul and to himself, that he
would hear more of Christ at some other convenient season. Here
were many seasons convenient enough to have talked that matter
through, but nothing is done in it; all his business now is to get
money by Paul, not to get the knowledge of Christ by him. Note, It
is just with God to say concerning those who trifle with their
convictions, and think they can have the grace of God at command
when they please, My Spirit shall no more strive with them.
When men will not hear God's voice to-day, while it is called
to-day, the heart is commonly hardened by the deceitfulness
of sin. Paul was but a poor man himself, silver and gold he
had none to give, to purchase his liberty; but Felix knew there
were those who wished well to him who were able to assist him. He
having lately collected a great deal of money for the poor saints
to relieve them, it might also be expected that the rich saints
should contribute some to release him, and I wonder it was not
done. Though Paul is to be commended that he would not offer money
to Felix, nor beg money of the churches (his great and generous
soul disdained both), yet I know not whether his friends are to be
commended, nay, whether they can be justified, in not doing it for
him. They ought to have solicited the governor as pressingly for
him as his enemies did against him: and if a gift was necessary
to make room for them (as Solomon speaks) and to bring them
before great men, they might lawfully have done it. I ought not to
bribe a man to do an unjust thing, but, if he will not do me
justice without a fee, it is but doing myself justice to give it to
him; and, if they might do it, it was a shame they did not do it. I
blush for them, that they would let such an eminent and useful man
as Paul lie in the jail, when a little money would have fetched him
out, and restored him to his usefulness again. The Christians here
at Cæsarea, where he now was, had parted with their tears to
prevent his going to the prison (ch. xxi. 13), and could they not find
in their hearts to part with their money to help him out? Yet there
might be a providence of God in it; Paul's bonds must be for the
furtherance of the gospel of Christ, and therefore he must continue
in bonds. However, this will not excuse Felix, who ought to have
released an innocent man, without demanding or accepting any thing
for it: the judge that will not do right without a bribe will no
doubt do wrong for a bribe. 2. Men-pleasing. Felix was recalled
from his government about two years after this, and Porcius
Festus was put in his place, and one should have expected he would
have at least concluded his government with this act of justice,
the release of Paul, but he did not; he left Paul bound, and
the reason here given is because he was willing to do the Jews a
pleasure. Though he would not deliver him to death, to
please them, yet he would continue him a prisoner rather than
offend them; and he did it in hope hereby to atone for the many
offences he had done against them. He did not think Paul had either
interest or inclination to complain of him at court, for detaining
him so long in custody, against all law and equity; but he was
jealous of the high priest and elders, that they would be his
accusers to the emperor for the wrongs he had done them, and
therefore hopes by gratifying them in this matter to stop their
mouths. Thus those who do some base things are tempted to do more
to screen themselves and bear them out. If Felix had not injured
the Jews, he needed not to have done this to please them; but, when
he had done it, it seems he did not gain his point. The Jews,
notwithstanding this, accused him to the emperor, and some
historians say he was sent bound to Rome by Festus; and, if so,
surely his remembering how light he had made of Paul's bonds would
help to make his own chain heavy. Those that aim to please God by
doing good will have what they aim at; but so will not those that
seek to please men by doing evil.